First period
- The Canadiens haven’t lost their mojo after three days off. A good start again.
- Michael Pezzetta gets his stick in Brandon Duhaime’s feet. That’s not the way he’s going to impress Martin St-Louis to get more than the four or five minutes he’s played in recent games.
- Even less so as Jakob Chychrun fires a shot and solves Jakub Dobes from the very top of the slot.
- That should drive the message home that the Habs need to stay disciplined tonight.
- It clearly didn’t because now Jayden Struble is off to the box for hooking. A rough start for the replacements.
- Dobes gets a toe on a pass allowed to go straight through the crease.
- Joel Armia gets sent in on a short-handed rush, but Charlie Lindgren makes a big right-glove save.
- Montreal is the better team at five-on-five. Just have to keep it there.
- Christian Dvorak tries to pass the puck back to Hutson at the point and .. sends it three feet over his head.
- Dobes isn’t quite as sharp as his first two games, which isn’t surprising given how great he was. A couple of rebounds, and an attempted pass up the ice that missed everyone. He may not be able to hold the Canadiens in this one on his own.
- Mike Matheson gets taken down in his zone by Pierre-Luc Dubois, and that will be a power play for Montreal to try to even things up.
- Caufield gets a shot off that :Lindgren didn’t see, but it still hits the goalie’s pad.
- Caufield races to the corner with time expiring and spins and fires a pass across the zone to Lane Hutson. The puck goes in behind Lindgren, but Juraj Slafkovský can’t knock in a last-second goal.
- Very little to complain about in that period other than the early penalties. The Capitals believe they can get away with a beat of cheating offensively, and Montreal will need to punish them for it in the second.
Second period
- Slafkovský makes some nice moves to pull the puck to the slot, and sets up Suzuki at the top of the crease. Lindgren makes the save on the captain, but them Duhaime knocked Suzuki right into Lindgren’s head with a hit.
- Teams should ask for their own two-minute penalties when a player makes such a dumb play.
- Gallagher sends a perfect pass across the crease on a two-on-one, but Anderson can’t connect on it.
- Heineman gets a one-time chance that Lindgren has to be precise on. It’s all Montreal here.
- Looks like Lindgren was just pulled from the game by the concussion spotter. Might have to up Duhaime’s team-imposed penalty to a major.
- Logan Thompson comes in off the bench. He’s allowed to get a warm-up on the ice with the new rule this season.
- Spencer Carbery is yelling at his players on the bench, the latest coach to chastise him team for getting outplayed by the Montreal Canadiens.
- Make it a five-game goal-scoring streak for Cole Caufield. He gets left all alone at the side of the net and makes it 1-1. Shots are 13-7 Montreal.
- Ethen Frank’s tour in his debut includes a view of the inside of the penalty box at Capital One Arena. Montreal goes back on the power play.
- Caufield walks out of the corner and sends the puck off the underside of the crossbar.
- That was the only chance the Canadiens were able to generate. A good kill from Washington otherwise.
- So good they flip the puck over the glass to do ti again.
- Slafkovský is making some really good passes tonight. He just quickly set up a one-time pass for Caufield, and Thompson just got a glove on it.
- The puck gets into Montreal’s end for a rare moment, and Alexander Ovechkin very nearly gets one close to Wayne Gretzky’s record with a spinning shot from the slot, but he sends it on a tangent wide of the net.
- Dach gets beat to the puck by tom Wilson as he’s trying to carry the puck up ice and responds by pulling Wilson down. Not the smartest play from #77.
- Anderson strips the puck at the blue, and shows excellent finish on a backhand deke to put Montreal ahead.
- Shot update: 17-8 Montreal.
- The refs get Struble again, this time for holding. The Capitals can’t say they’re no getting their chances.
- Dobes makes a save with his face. Whatever it takes to keep this power play off the board.
- Slafkovský tips a point shot that just trickles wide of the net.
- The Capitals try upping the physicality to get back in the game. The Habs answer right back.
- Shots are 21-10 after 40 minutes. Washington has had four power plays.
- The third period has belonged to the Capitals in the season series so far. Montreal will need to keep up this same level for 20 more minutes.
Third period
- Christian Dvorak has a chance to get a shot early in the period. That’s it. That’s the comment.
- Ethen Frank beats out an icing call, and sets up Lars Eller for the game-tying goal. Four Canadiens were stacked in a line in the slot instead of taking the pass option away.
- That’s the seventh third-period goal the Capitals have versus Montreal this season.
- Montreal goes right back to work, with Hutson creating from the blue line.
- Kaiden Guhle blocked a shot with the outside of his foot, and how he’s walking down the tunnel. Hopefully just to skate out the bees.
- Guhle is back on the ice. The bees have been dealt with.
- Slafkovský pulls the puck back across his body to find Caufield once more. The Slovak is starting to make tough passes look easy.
- Dobes faces two point-blank shots off a faceoff loss in front of him, and makes calm saves on both.
- The Capitals have started to play a little harder with eight minutes to go. They’ve gone from 13 to 17 shots in a hurry.
- Slafkovský makes things a little more difficult after a long shift in the defensive zone by trying to carry the puck deep into his zone to allow a change and gets stripped of it in the process. Good idea, poor execution as he didn’t check his surroundings.
- Heineman gets a chance on Thompson, but the goalie gets enough of it.
- Montreal has settled down after that Capitals flurry.
- Excellent work from Slafkovský versus three Caps in the corner leads to a slot chance from Suzuki, but the captain fans on the attempt.
- The Habs have more than settled in; they’ve taken over.
- Guhle loses his stick with about 80 seconds to play. Montreal shows no panic, keeping the defensive structure intact.
- And that’s a point. A really good effort from Montreal tonight. Now go get the win.
Overtime
- Montreal allows a two-on-one, but Lane Hutson gets his foot on the pass. The puck goes the other way. Nick Suzuki tries to pass it to Caufield, but it’s blocked. Suzuki collects the puck off the missed play, and fires it off the bar and in.
- Jakub Dobes is 3-0-0. Montreal is 10-2-1 in games played back-to-back. This team is inserting itself among the league’s best.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) They like a bit of a challenge
2) And not just beating a bunch of sub-.500 teams
1) The Powerhoresman
